'Mayor' Hickman a large figure for Rams

By: Lenox Rawlings | Winston-Salem Journal
Published: November 27, 2011

By the kickoff Saturday, the race cars and the oak leaves were long gone, leaving Bowman Gray Stadium awash in red.

Red T-shirts. Red sweatshirts. Red uniforms with black shoulders. Red caps. Even red shoes.

The Winston-Salem State Rams wear red when they’re wearing out CIAA rivals, and they wore red while beating California University of Pennsylvania 35-28 in the school’s first NCAA home playoff game since 1991. At least 7,000 of the 7,645 witnesses had some red threads showing somewhere on the breezy November afternoon, a scene that begged for a windy politician.

The Rams, rallying the football base, bypassed the certified officeholders and nominated Ced Hickman, the senior running back they laughingly (and perhaps lovingly) call “The Mayor of Winston-Salem.” Hickman has no verifiable ties to the elected mayor, Allen Joines, but he grew up in Winston-Salem and played for North Forsyth High.

Hickman has been around town for a long time, breaking away for short tours of Hargrave Military Academy and N.C. State, but the mayor business started during summer training camp.

“It doesn’t really mean anything to me because everybody’s just joking around,” Hickman said. “Everybody’s got nicknames on the team. Staying here at home, it’s just fun and games.”

When a few classmates decide to hit the town at night, they might ask Hickman for ideas: “Ahhh, the mayor of Winston — Ced, you got it, it’s your hometown.”

He smiles and shrugs and goes along. Jerry Chandler, a tight end from High Point, gets the “Mayor of High Point” treatment, but not many Rams make weeknight runs over to High Point.

As mayors go, Hickman carries slightly more weight. The roster lists Chandler and Hickman at 260 pounds. “But then we had Thanksgiving break,” Hickman said. “I ate a lot. There’s nothing like a home-cooked meal from your mother.”

As sayings go, big dogs eat whatever they want. The Rams, 12-0 heading into a quarterfinals match against New Haven (Conn.), enlist several big dogs. One of them, 230-pound Nic Cooper, rushed for 118 yards against a substantial California defense and scored three touchdowns, two traveling squarely behind his mammoth blocker, Mayor Hickman.

“It’s like this,” Cooper said. “He can talk as much junk to me all week — whatever — as long as Saturday he does what he does. I can’t say nothing. I’m getting escorted into the end zone on a red carpet, man, so I can’t say nothing.”

Hickman is much more than an escort service, as he demonstrated in the second quarter. The Rams, trailing 14-13, drove to the California 6-yard line. Quarterback Kameron Smith rolled right and rifled a pass that glanced off tight end Michael Byrd’s fingers and popped up. Hickman followed the ball, jumped and hauled in his third touchdown catch this season.

“It wasn’t meant for me,” Hickman said. “Byrd actually tipped it. Then me, playing basketball in high school, kept my eyes on the ball and used my soft hands. I just caught it. I remembered my basketball days, and I just jumped.”

Hickman caught one more pass, and he caught a nasty shoulder shot to the ribs that left him bruised but ready to return. The Rams escaped without risking further injury to Hickman, who celebrated by taking short breaths and long laughs.

There weren’t many giggles in the early days. “It’s a big turnaround,” Hickman said. “My first year here, we went 1-10. Oh, man, being 1-10 — we didn’t get no respect around here when we were 1-10. You were like: ‘Winston-Salem State? Who’s Winston-Salem State?’ Now that we’re 12-0, No. 3 or 4 in the nation, what more can you ask for than a national championship?”

The unofficial football mayor of Winston-Salem could ask for a gavel and a bully pulpit that can support 260 pounds, plus Mama’s Thanksgiving dinner.